Turn and live

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.  “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.  None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.  Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live? - Ezekiel 18v20-23

The soul that sins shall die. He shall not die because of his father’s sins, and that father shall not die because of his son’s sins. But every man sins and the wages of sin is death. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. His desire is that every man would turn to Him and live. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and turn to Him.

It was all a bit of a mystery in Ezekiel’s time. Salvation came by faith, as man realised his sin and by faith turned from that sin to God. That turning was only evidenced by a change in his life.

Salvation has never changed. Though the people in Ezekiel’s day did not know all the details they were saved when they trusted God's call to turn from their sin. God has blessed us today with a much clearer picture. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.’ God still wants man to avoid eternal death. He wants it so much that He sent His Son that we may by faith turn to Him and live.

Just like in the day of Ezekiel that faith and turning is evidenced and manifested by a changed life as we turn from our old way and turn to a new life in Christ.

God is still calling mankind to ‘turn and live.’ We need to share that call like Ezekiel did.